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Hurt
Nine Inch Nails Lyrics

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real

The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of shit
Upon my liars chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

If I could start again
A million miles away
I will keep myself
I would find a way

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Trent Reznor

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"Hurt" is a song written by Trent Reznor, first released on Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for best rock song in 1996.

The song talks of heroin addiction and self-harm, but its meaning is not completely clear. Several versions of the song were released on the "Hurt" single.

In 2002, Hurt was covered by Johnny Cash to critical acclaim; it was one of Cash's final hit releases before his death. Read Full Bio"Hurt" is a song written by Trent Reznor, first released on Nine Inch Nails' 1994 album The Downward Spiral. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for best rock song in 1996.

The song talks of heroin addiction and self-harm, but its meaning is not completely clear. Several versions of the song were released on the "Hurt" single.

In 2002, Hurt was covered by Johnny Cash to critical acclaim; it was one of Cash's final hit releases before his death.

Reznor's comments after seeing the video of the Cash version of his song were:

"I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore… It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning — different, but every bit as pure."